Deck of Cards
by Lucanidae
Summary: There is no such thing as a mistake. /Rating will change accordingly if necessary./
1. Beginnings

_Hello folks, my name is Stag Beetle (Beetle for short) and welcome to my dirty little secret. This is purely self indulgence, mind you, written only to fufill a cheap trick I've been playing out in my mind lately. Just a warning though, do not get upset over something as petty as fiction; you'll just succeed in making yourself look like a complete lunatic if so._

_It should also be noted that it's definitely been a while since I've last written anything close to this, so bear with me and do point out mistakes. ;) You will definitely see some oC's, however I will try my best to blend them in with this universe. I have certain things planned that requires extra characters to move this along (aswell as to fulfill previously mentioned indulgences heh heh), so just a fair warning ahead of time._

_Enjoy._

* * *

There are many days in a year, and within that year many memorable events. To us, as people, each year is cherished as our life spans are quite short; birthdays, holidays, first kisses, the works, are all engraved into our minds at one point or another and are relived as we see fit. The things that stick with us are quite particular mind you, and are usually comprised of a whole spectrum of experiences ranging from childhood to adulthood. They are love, they are life, but best of all they are unique to each individual being, never to be experienced by anyone else no matter what the situation may be.

However, whether or not it is spoken or kept to ourselves, we have all experienced one thing; a sudden, inexplicable and fiercely intense fright. Something appearing as if out of nowhere and vanishing just as fast as it came, leaving in its wake a white hot memory of barred teeth, glowing eyes, and sharp claws. There is never time, there is never a good enough look, but the impression is there. The impression accompanied by a horrible feeling, and a new memory forever burned deep within one's mind.

It is there, it is there and we have all experienced it whether or not we have ever addressed it within our lifetimes. It is experiences like that that our mind keeps, that have become an endless inspiration for folk lore, spur of the moment camp fire stories, and horror films. They are an injection of adrenaline made up by our perceived overactive imaginations, and are the result of primal fears and shadows dancing within the corners of our eyes. They take hold, we mold them, and they become our seemingly fictitious realities that are passed on by word of mouth, art, and film.

But in order to create something tangible out of an awful experience, we needed to give these experiences solid forms to identify with. To say you fear something without a face is extraordinarily hard to describe, so humans began to equate these anomalies with terrifyingly grotesque figures, and soon these figures became known quite simply as monsters.

That term, that ever endearing, universal word "monster" became their word, became their world. Without them we'd have no stories to tell, we'd have nothing to pin those experiences down upon. Nothing to give a face to the terrors we felt we imagined, nothing to give primal humans something to keep ourselves (and our children) in line back when it was necessary. We would lack luster, we would lack vibrancy in our stories and our imagination, forever sitting on the word fear and having no imagery to accompany it. It wouldn't allow us to portray our experience in any way; wouldn't allow us to tell the tale of a creature we thought we saw to others, and in turn plant that seed of belief into the hearts of the rest of our race. If there was no image and no belief, they simply would not live and that is not an option. There can never be a middle ground, otherwise their race would be in jeopardy and that is something they just simply cannot allow.

As you can see, there is us, there is them, and between us is a quiet, mutual need for one another without ever seeking interaction and perpetually living in state of perceived imaginary existence. To us they are figments, yet to them they know otherwise, and that is how it should be.

They are a part of us as much as we are a part of them, as we are their creators in a twisted sort of way. We are their creators only because the fear in our hearts forever plays in an everlasting loop, ensuring their survival and well being.

Mass knowledge would simply be detrimental.


	2. Knave of Hearts

_I quite like Ickis's personality at the very beginning of season 1 and the pilot, so that's going to show through quite a bit more here. : ) Near the end of the show different traits began to be played up, most noticeably the various voice changes, greedy behavior, boastfulness on successful scares, and the need to fit in amongst his peers. I've toned those down and essentially brought him back to his roots (or so I hope!), but I will of course be throwing in his quintessential features here and there. They just won't be nearly as prominent as they were in later seasons. I've also re-toned down Krumm and played up some features of Oblina, just a note._

_Also, PitBull_Lady, thank you very much for the review! Yes indeed, the series did have some pretty deep themes that I didn't notice before when I was smaller (I was far more engulfed in all the neat, freaky characters, haha). As I went back and rewatched the series on netflix, it just became so engaging! I especially loved the little rarer sort of heartbreaking moments such as Ickis's insecurities getting the best of him enough to consider plastic surgery from a human doctor. I'm going to try and touch upon those kinds of things here /hopefully/ aswell as put on my own spin, ie, reading into things haha. ;) If it works, it works, if not, just know this is all in good fun and indulgence. :D _

_**If you see any typos, awkward sentences, or inconsistencies do tell! ;)**  
_

* * *

**Chapter 2**_  
_

Today was an exceptionally cold day.

The city of New York was smack dab in the middle of a god awful cold snap, one so strong it could easily penetrate the thickest jacket without the slightest hint of mercy. Any unprotected skin stung as though it were pressed against a jagged wall of needles, and yet, as agonizing as that was to deal with, the streets were still as bustling as ever. People continued to rush about doing whatever it was they were doing, going wherever it was they were going. Oblivious, consumed, they were unknowingly playing their part as prime targets for certain individuals, mostly due to their complete and utter immersion into their own dismal waking lives.

This, this is what he knew, and despite the sheer cold _he_ still passed out that week's assignments. This was his students graduating year, and with it coming to a close, he needed to press them to the extreme to prove to the world, his word, that they were rugged individuals ready to accomplish great things within their lifetimes. The assignment was a bit difficult of course, and with its degree of difficulty came a very small time frame to produce it; one week to produce three largely intricate scares on tremendously grand scales. To many, they were thrilled; a chance to walk along the surface at a time in which they were normally advised to stay indoors was not something they wanted to pass up. It was a chance to run around in a full on snow snap, to prove they can withstand extremes and still make it to the top of the trash heap. It was truly unique and rare, and to botch such an opportunity would be ludicrous by any standard.

Not even shortly after the assignment was passed out did the students begin to chatter amongst themselves, talking of preparations and brainstorming ideas with one another quite openly. Even two out of _those_ three, a little party of three very strange, very unalike monsters were crackling with energy, talking amongst each other in a fervor not normally expressed for previous projects. Tall and thin, short and squat, the two were engaged in such a tight conversation that it was _almost_ painfully obvious that one of the trio was absent in the discussion; sitting slightly adjacent from his chittering comrades, the third team member quite obviously kept himself in an unusually quiet position, hoping not to attract the attention of absolutely anyone at this point, least they'd want to talk about what was just handed out. For even though the room was aglow with a healthy din saturated with ideas, excitement, and competitive banter, this assignment didn't sit well with everyone.

Well, more along the lines of just one monster in particular anyway.

This new assignment did not sit well with a set of sleek magenta ears, one's that were very delicate to ice cold winds and violent temperatures. Not the diminutively framed body of a normally inefficiently prepared monster whom probably had to take extra precautions to absolutely not freeze to death outside. Not Ickis, the once jittery young lad who was now only a slightly less scattered young adult on the cusp of graduation, the one who's personality _hadn't_ changed exponentially, whom hadn't grown much height wise nor thickened up either. The one who's now larger ears had edges tattered from a string of various accidents, posture a bit hunched from constant cowering in his younger years, and only a slightly more controlled voice in terms of pitch.

Not him, no no, not at all.

With the release of a largely exaggerated sigh, he flopped himself over his desk, arms crossed over his head bringing down his usually stiff ears over his face to cover it like a pair of blinds. An obvious sign of stress in the young adult, he quietly ground his teeth in largely surprised anxiety, praying class would just come to an end before the Gromble had a chance to grill the assignment into them once more. He wanted nothing more then to crawl back to his shared dorm, boil up a hot cup of skankum and cull the night away under warm blankets. He had thinking to do that he clearly did not want to do; with the overwhelming feeling of everything coming to an end came a sort of exhaustion, one that had chipped away at him over this last semester and basically brought his body to a halt. He wanted nothing more then to relax at this point, an ideal that never quite went away with his age even though he was facing one of the last few tremendous hurdles of the year.

Oh, oh what he would give to just have a moment's peace without worry! To freely dig and loom as he pleased and not have to worry about grades or time frames or anything of that sort. To spend what time he had left with his friends, to enjoy the good life! He kept telling himself it would be better if he just got it done and over with, but, as he learned, the mind may think one thing and the body may do another. His body was simply not listening, and well, neither was he as he dissolved in and out of his thoughts.

"…and that is why you need to make sure you _accurately_ plan what you're going to do, or you will absolutely _not make it _in this cold!"

Darn, what was that?

As soon as he realized he was missing a section of the lecture, he bolted straight up, his action accompanied with a single panicked whine. Ears straight up, eyes wide open, he could almost _feel_ as though the Gromble were about to strike him where he sat for laying his head down while he was speaking, but luckily for him the awful beast was too busy pacing around to and fro near the other side of the room. As he collected himself and put on a mock grin to satisfy the "I was certainly listening sir!" criteria, his teacher turned, a malicious look of boiling anger accompanied by the slightest hint of distraught worry could be seen clearly burned into his features. He heel-clicked his way to Ickis's side of the auditorium, waving his teaching bone frantically to catch his student's attention, many of whom were still somewhat engaged in their endlessly abundant excitement over their new task. "Did you hear me, you piss poor excuses for sentient life forms? Do you not understand the ramifications of _exactly_ what it is that I just told you or do you need to see so for _yourselves_?" he snarled, barred teeth flashing vehemently as he not so gracefully slammed his shimmering red heels down against rotting flooring. The older monster then wrapped both hands around the ends of his teaching bone, grasping it so intensely that the leather in his black gloves began to groan with the increasing amount of pressure being applied. He uttered his last words with a low, sickeningly sweet sort of venom, the icing on the cake if you will, to make sure what he had said was tacked onto their foreheads so tightly it'd surely cause some sort of hemorrhaging.

"I could very _easily_ tie a few of you to some flagpoles outside, and then use your frozen corpses as examples of _what not to do_ for the freshman I get next year."

Absolute silence.

Eyes narrowed, the Gromble looked over the class once more, meeting the gaze of as many students as he could in what little time he had left on the clock. Once he was sure he struck fear into their hearts, he stood straight up from a very intimidating posture, if not a bit daintily, and cooed reassurance in place of threats back to his children. "Make sure you get them all done in a timely manner my dears! And remember…"

Delicately he raised a hand and pointed to the clock in the back of the classroom. It only had a minute to spare before class was dismissed, and yet must have unanimously felt like the longest minute of their horrendous little lives.

"Don't. Be. Late."

_Belch!_

Feet, paws, hands, claws all hit the ground running almost all at once. The doorway leading to the halls were only so big, but due to the rush of larger, older, and far stronger monsters, that doorway certainly complied. It complied by warping in its frame, buckling width-wise as the students pushed their way out, eager to start preparations for their task so that they could waste at least one day fooling around as they saw fit.

* * *

"Oh Icky, Krummy! _Finally_ we can get started on organizing ourselves for these scares! I've been looking forward to this all year ever since the Gromble mentioned a harsh weather assignment back at the beginning of the first semester. It'll be absolutely delightful!"

"Hhmn, yes, _delightful._"

"Ickis, what's the matter? You haven't been your usual boastful, cowardly self these last few days. Is there something on your mind my dear?"

Walking down the festering hallway leading back to their dorms, the trio methodically dodged their fellow classmates darting in and out of each other's rooms. Everyone was in a hurry, scampering about while carrying armfuls (or mouthfuls) of rotten cloth, moldy boxes of this and that, and plenty of other knickknacks that the youths felt they might need to get the job done. Gathering the junk was the easiest part; getting that done now meant they could have time for other things at least for a day, maximum two. They had all steadily begun to learn that with an increase in workloads, schedules needed to be made and the Gromble _absolutely_ made sure of that. The first half of the beginning of the year were nothing but back to back scares, as the teacher wanted his students to learn how to manage their time efficiently when faced with tight schedules. It was a grueling couple of months coupled with very little rest and very little of much else; many had dissolved into sleeping, eating, and scaring on set timeframes just so they wouldn't break down in the middle of it all. After the crunch was over however, many had managed to retain their newfound scheduling, or some sort of mockery of thereof. They had become one step closer to becoming perfect cogs in a machine, ones that would work smoothly and fill their niches set for them within their world.

For the most part anyhow.

Without so much as turning back, Ickis answered, if a bit in a low, awkward tone. Ears pinned back, he kept his slouched pace without missing a single beat or classmate dodge.

"It's nothing Oblina, don't worry about it."

"Come on now Ickis, you've been keeping your head down for far too long! You haven't even looked at anything besides our feet today and that is quite saying something. Either you turn around and tell us what's wrong, or so help me Crud I will _make_ you!"

It was at that last sentence he cringed, gosh he had done it _now_. Even without realizing it, he _hadn't_ looked up at his friends today, and now that he stopped to think about it, he couldn't recall making eye contact with anyone. It was purely unintentional, he knew that of course, as he had been lost in an idle dream-like state throughout much of the day. How was he to explain what he was doing when he could barely call it 'thinking' at all; it was more of a haze then anything else.

"Look at me this instant, _bunny rabbit._"

Oh, well, that did it.

Ickis swiveled around, eyes partially wide in surprise yet mixed with a slightly lowered brow, the only hint of a sharp spike in anger. _Bunny rabbit_ was never an endearing set of words to hear and he absolutely _hated_ it no matter who it came from. His ears shot straight up as he looked his offender in the eye, or rather, looked _up_ into her eyes, and released a small, pitiful hiss in response.

There stood Oblina, now quite a bit older and much, _much_ longer, her serpentine body arched slightly in an S shape to keep herself from completely towering over her companions. Her full, grotesque lips had grown even more ghastly over the years, adding to the powerful yet almost gracefully delicate look she had dancing about her. There were a few more hairs atop her head, and some at the tip of her tail, but the most noticeable changes in her features besides the length of her body, were all in her _eyes_. They had become a bit more oval in shape as opposed to round, her eyelashes long, dark, and many; slightly bent and haphazardly spread as though she had gotten a hold of some rather skanky mascara. There was a small tint of green in what would be her irises if she had any; strongest around the edges of her slit-shaped pupils, it was just enough to give her a more dominating stare then she had held previously. And boy did she use it when she was in the mood to do so.

But alas, Ickis was so far gone in his own pitty party that her judgmental look had no effect; standing on his tiptoes with arms at his sides balled into tiny fists, he uttered a crackled snarl in retaliation. This just wasn't his day.

"Don't call me that, you _know_ I hate being called thaaat!"

Leaning in so closely she nearly touched faces with her vastly smaller friend, her stare became far more intense as she felt the anger radiate off of his fuzzy velvet body. She knew that if she pushed him the right way he would break down as opposed to stomp off, and she'd get the response she needed instead of just another mess. Choosing her words carefully as though she were playing a game of human chess, she hardened her expression and responded once more. Low in tone, eyes almost narrowed to slits, the words came out.

"I will, _bunny_, if you tell me what's wrong."

"Aauugh!"

Maybe her move was just a wee bit premature.

"I'm sick of this! My whole _life _has been a laughing fest at this school, and it's apparently not limited to my classmates, _oh no_. It's wormed it's way into my friends, the most important monsters I keep by my side! I swear Oblina, if you call me that again I'll…I'll-"

Just as Ickis's eyes began to boil, he felt a soft thump and a feeling of warm flesh resting against his bony shoulder. It was just a bit clammy and wrinkly in the palm, with nails a sickly yellow and chipped away at as though they were ravaged by fungus. Ickis turned, even though he knew who it was simply by touch; it was the hand of his much calmer, much more quiet friend Krumm, a soothing reminder that they were all still in the hallway and currently being stared at by most of their peers.

"Hey, let's not do this here alright? We can talk about this in our room." He smiled, the slightest hint of a growing moustache (courtesy of his father's genes) becoming slightly more prominent as he did so. Over the years, Krumm, like Ickis, hadn't changed very much in appearance; he'd maybe gotten a bit taller, a bit heavier, but overall he was just far more hairy. He did start to develop a few warts on his rounded nose though, another trait passed down from father to son. But one of the most noticeable things was his stench, oh his _stench_.

Well, one could say it was absolutely ghastly, even on an off day at this point.

Even so, he still retained his sweet, quiet personality and occasional words of wisdom as well as his far more occasional fits of complete retardation and incompetence.

One could also never really stay mad when faced with Krumm's smile though, or his light little comforting chuckle either.

Ickis deflated almost instantly at that point, ears lowered a bit and the blood in his eyes draining out. He was making a fool of himself and he knew it, and yet his friends, more often then not, chose to stay by his side to quell the side effects of having a very haphazard personality. For that, he was always exceptionally grateful, even though he didn't always say it. He didn't know what he'd do with himself if he ever lost them.

A swelling of the chest, the little monster sighed. "Alright, alright. We'll talk inside then. Just." he stopped, wringing his wrists with eyes darting back and forth between his two companions. "Just don't make fun of me for what I have to say, ok?"

"We promise!" they chimed simultaneously, both of his friends taking their places at his sides now instead of behind him. Together they walked the rest of the way down the hall to their room, and one at a time they entered before shutting the locker door firmly behind them.

He hoped, oh how he hoped he wouldn't make too big of a deal out of things.

* * *

"I'm not sure how to say this, so bare with me here ok?"

Little claws clicked idly against each other as he attempted to grasp at the words he needed to get out exactly what he wanted to say. Ickis had never been very good at the art of language and explanation, especially when he needed it, but every once in a while the words would just spill out in the right order when enough pressure was felt to do so. Being perched on his bed in front of two eagerly awaiting friends was almost enough to make things tumble out, but not quite.

The feeling resulted in a sort of bubble, a feeling caught in his throat as though he were teetering on the edge of explanation and just needed a final push.

"It's alright Ickis, you take your time my dear." Oblina crooned to him as gently as possible. She had taken her seat next to, or rather, affectionately coiled around the ever portly Krumm, whom had himself seated directly on the floor adjacent to Ickis, so as to make sure his friend knew he had his full attention. Sitting at the very edge of his bed, the magenta monster smiled lightly at the scene before him; not very long ago something like this would have been considered a strange sight to see, especially in front of others which of course, included himself.

Over the last half of the first semester, Oblina and Krumm had become exceptionally close, scaring together far more frequently, walking closer to each other during outings, looking for the other's favorite foods and the like. It was quite obvious what was happening of course, but with Ickis being Ickis, he was the last one to know just what was going on before him. When they finally pulled him aside and quietly broke the news to him directly, all he could remember was laughing to the point of tears and Oblina's body coiled around him in an attempt at frustrated strangulation. Ah his friends, how he loved them.

Whenever he thought about it though, it was all really funny in retrospect; when they were younger, him and a group of other male monsters entertained the idea of Oblina being interested in Krumm during their usual lunch breaks. See, Oblina was considered one of the most grotesque of the ladies even in her youth, and that was despite her less then feminine tendencies and bookworm, rule bound qualities. He distinctly remembered that the conversation had left his friend flustered and worried, oh how fearful he was that his friend could possibly have a _squish_ on him! At that time and throughout the course of the event, most, if not all who knew found it hilarious; who could ever feel something for the rancid and far less intelligent dumpling that was Krumm?

He didn't know the full details of how their scare had gone that night, the night Krumm was supposed to confront Oblina about the squish, but he did know that they had come back home with smiles on their faces and silent giggles washing over them.

Perhaps he had witnessed the first seeds of a growing relationship, but honestly, he would never know. But what he did know is that things didn't change much between the three; sure ol' Bliney would coil up with Krumm every once in a while, hold hands with him here and there and plant the biggest, squishiest kisses you could ever imagine upon his bulbous nose (to which she'd more often then not turn to Ickis and kiss him squarely on the forehead whenever he complained), but they still remained the same otherwise. To him, it was a great thing; he had wished and hoped with all his might that they wouldn't dissolve into some sticky mess of gooey words and cheesy romantic gifts. They didn't, they remained the same save for a few extra things, and because of it they all basically formed a much stronger bond then what they had had before.

It was lovely.

Another sigh, that was it. Rolling such thoughts over in his mind had given him the final push to say what he needed to say. Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, he crossed one leg over another and began.

"I…well." Never mind, he dropped the ball as soon as it started. Take it easy now, just pick it up and start again. "I've been thinking about how…how everything's going to come to an end soon, what with school being over and all. Hhmn…"

He stopped, reaching a claw to the back of his head to scratch at a spot that didn't need to be scratched. A mindless reaction and one of nervousness, he paid it no mind until the scratching began to hurt that is. He brought his hand back down and looked across to his friends, who remained seated in their listening positions without any fuss.

"I'm kind of just…oh, please don't think I sound like a coward for saying this, but I'm worried that this will make us drift apart!"

Ah, there it was.

"Oh Icky." Oblina partially uncoiled herself from Krumm, just enough so she could gently cup her friend's face between her tiny, delicate hands. "My dear Icky, you don't have to worry, graduating won't pull us apart! You know as well as I that we simply cannot be separated, and I'm sure that even if we find ourselves on different paths that we will always come together when we need it."

"Yeah!" Krumm chimed in, standing up and causing Oblina to release the rest of her coils she still had on him. "It's not going to be that hard, I think. We could always try and work things out on weekends or something, if we're all busy and stuff."

Ickis whined, his friends sure knew how to hit him right in the emotional soft spots. He leaned into Oblina's hands, cupping his claws around hers as he began to softly whimper out the rest of what he had on his mind. "I know but…it's scary, and not in a good way. I know I sound like a little baby _bonsty_, but I just…I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you two."

"Ohhh." As soon as he got done saying his final words, Oblina wrapped her arms around him and began to gently rub his back in comfort. She could feel him shivering beneath her palms; this must have been something he had bottled up and boiled over for quite a while. It was uncommon for him to have emotional revelations like that, but not completely unheard of. It was just something that had to have been a product of intense thinking or stress, which was, of course in this case the ending of their time together at school.

Understandable, it's not like this topic was completely isolated to only Ickis actually. She herself had rolled over such thoughts in her mind, but had managed to convince herself that it was entirely impossible they could ever be completely kept apart to any degree.

"It'll be ok Ickis, we'll figure something out." Krumm hopped up to sit next to his friend, very nearly squeezing him off the bed in the process. He popped his other eyeball into his other palm, freeing up an arm to throw around his quaking comrade in support. Together all three of them stood like that for quite a while, just to make sure he knew his friends intended to stay by his side even after their school situation came to an end. It was very quiet, the silence only broken by the sound of Ickis's occasional hiccups here and there and the soft sounds of Oblina's hands rubbing against his back. Finally, as he felt that most of his thoughts were under control, he softly pulled away from their grips to wipe away at his eyes. He hadn't allowed himself to cry tremendously, he just sort of silently let himself tear up because he knew his usual bawling would have been enough to have the Gromble come knocking on their door.

"You alright now my dear?" Oblina cooed, stroking the top of his head. He nodded, dragging an arm across his face to wipe the accumulated tears away, as well as very ungracefully snorting up loose mucus. The noise was enough to make Krumm chuckle, which in turn caused Ickis to smile weakly and elbow him slightly in the side. "Yeah yeah, I'm good." he answered, rubbing his face and looking up at her. "I think that's enough feelings stuff for today, hehh."

With a light laugh, he took in a deep breath. All gathered up now, he sat up straight and appeared ready for a change in subject. After spilling out his guts he seemed eager to get off the topic for it was still just a bit embarrassing for him regardless. Easily readable, Oblina obliged by patting him on the shoulder and audibly drawing in breath.

"Alright then my dears, I suppose now we should try and get our affairs in order for the next round of scares, yes?"

A small tch and a neutral grunt were her responses; geez, they sure were exactly same weren't they? Her eyes narrowed a bit, but she continued to smile and continued to dictate her plans for the week.

"I've got an excellent idea planned for the first intricate scare, buuuuttt…" she began to walk off to her bed, pushing things aside and arching over garbage looking for _something_ she wanted to show them. "We need…hm where is that skanky thing…ah! Ah ha!" From behind her bed she pulled something up, something small and reflective and just a bit sharp. "We need some of these _thingies!_"

Oblina held out her palm in front of her comrades, and in it was a broken piece of…well, something. It was certainly reflective and even partially bounced back images of their faces as they looked down into it. It was a broken piece of mirror, but because the name of the object was unknown to them, she simply called it as she saw it.

"It's vanity glass! Like the larger one we have, except just in smaller pieces. If we could get a decent amount of these and maybe some larger ones, I think we could pull off the particular scare I have in mind for us!" Excited, she dropped the piece into their hands so that they could accurately examine the tiny object. Krumm flipped it over to view the back, looking almost disappointed that the image he saw in the mirror wasn't carried over to the backside of the object. He shrugged and handed it to Ickis, who held it up a bit over his head and stared into it. Upon seeing his face he almost instinctively flashed his teeth, not for any reason other in particular then to see just how grizzly they looked.

"When we get enough we'll test them out yes? I'm not too sure if working with small objects like this would yield the result I have in mind, but it's worth a shot. So what do you say?"

They both turned to look at her, just a bit perplexed. She was so, so eager to get this project off the ground that she had her hands clasped together and the widest, most enthusiastic smile scrawled onto her lips. Who were they to say no to…whatever it was she had in mind, especially when faced with an expression like that?

"Well uh, are you going to tell us what they're for before or after we go garbage picking?" Ickis asked, tossing the piece of mirror back and forth between his palms.

"After, I really want to test this first before I get my hopes up if you don't mind."

"Hhmm."

Going out on a gathering mission didn't seem very appealing right now but…Ah well, what the hey? Maybe he could get away with loafing around if he 'looked' far enough within the dump to take a nap or something.

"It's alright by me." Krumm spoke up, looking back at his thinking friend. He wasn't agreeing with her to score points either mind you; Oblina almost always came up with very successful plans that she put into motion by having her friends set up the way she needed. It would be less thinking on his part, and to him that was just dandy. That didn't stop Ickis from giving him a teasing look before grunting and agreeing to go through with it however. Oblina squealed, throwing her hands up in the air in triumph; she was eager to get the ball rolling on this one if everything went according to plan.

"Then it's settled! I need you two to go out and gather as many complete and incomplete pieces as you can. Try to get them in as many variations in sizes as possible yes? Meanwhile I'm going to stay here and work out a map of the location I'd like to pull this off at, and-"

"Oh come on!"

"Hush you, you know that's just as important. Now shoo!" she flicked her wrists at her companions, chasing them off the bed and toward the entryway to their room. They had both vocally started to grumble in compliance; they saw it as getting the shorter end of the stick but hey, what could you do? "Remember darlings, different sizes!" she called, waving her hand to them as they left her behind to her own devices, which included her skipping around the room gathering as many grimy pieces paper she could, and looking for as many things as possible that she could write on them with.

"Boy, this one _sure_ is going to be fun, isn't it?" the sound of their footsteps echoed in the hall, and with that that they began head out to the exit to the over world; as task was a task and they might as well get it over with to get back to the fun stuff.

Or at least seem like they were trying to do so anyhow.


End file.
